Project

Generations - promoting the next generation of coffee famers

Kam, 10/19/2017 - 13:00

Generations is the result of years of experiences made with youth as part of the Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership Program. With the support of the Interamerican Development Bank and other important partners, those experiences are now brought to scale.

Run by youth, with youth, and for youth, Generations provides improved formal education, employment, and self-employment opportunities for rural youngsters in Trifinio through vocational guidance, life skills, and entrepreneurial development.

Pervasive poverty and a lack of opportunities are only a few of the challenges young people living in Trifinio—the tri-border area between Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador—face. While their parents have been coffee producers all their lives, youth now tend to break with this tradition in search for jobs outside of agriculture. Many of them are migrating to the cities or the United States without skills and perspectives for a better future. Especially in Trifinio, where over 70% of the rural economy depends on coffee, youth lack opportunities to engage in the local employment market.

The Generations program uses a peer-to-peer educational approach which helps youth acquire skills for employability and entrepreneurship. Youth are guided toward existing opportunities both within and outside of the coffee value chain. Individual life plans build the foundation to connect youth to jobs, vocational institutes and farmer organizations to ease their access to employment.

This project will empower 3,130 youth in coffee growing communities to help them discover their goals in life and seek further training. A variety of opportunities within Generations gives them the chance to experiment with their talents and develop new skills. With greater access to employment, educational, or entrepreneurial opportunities, young people will have more reason to remain in their communities and become drivers of the rural economy.